


The Codependency Competition - A Percabeth Fanfic

by Ocean_breezzq



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M, M/M, percabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25407922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ocean_breezzq/pseuds/Ocean_breezzq
Summary: One day, Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase are accused of being too dependent on one another. Believing this to be untrue, Percy and Annabeth set out to prove their accusers wrong. The perfect opportunity arrises when Annabeth transfers to Goode, where nobody but Paul knows about their relationship. Acting their usual selves, Percy and Annabeth decide to make their challenge into a competition: to see how long they can go without anybody from school discovering their relationship. The only question is, how long can they REALLY survive without the comfort of the other?ΩΩΩ Set Post-HoO ΩΩΩ
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Calypso/Leo Valdez, Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Paul Blofis/Sally Jackson, Piper McLean/Jason Grace
Comments: 65
Kudos: 393





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I intend on not writing any more A/N unless absolutely necessary after this, but I just need to get a little bit of info out before we start (not that any of you are actually going to bother reading this, but if you are, good on you!). Anyway, this story is inspired by the story that @Literallyobsessed wrote: "The Highschool Experiment." I absolutely loved their idea, and I think that there should be more stories like it out there. That's why I'm doing this. Plus, once I get a story idea my head, there is nothing that make it go away. I'm going to try and keep this story in 3rd person all the way, but who knows what will happen?! Also, in this story, Percy and Annabeth are both 17, and they are both seniors. This story can also be found on Wattpad and FF.
> 
> My beta reader writes stories on here! JJ, you are amazing! Go check out nightskywithrainbows!
> 
> THIS GOES FOR THE WHOLE STORY: I don't own PJO, sadly. That title goes to Uncle Rick. The plot's mine though. Sorry if any PJO characters turn a little OC, I can't control that, but I'll try.
> 
> That's it! I hope you enjoy this story, and please comment, vote, and add this story to your library! 
> 
> – your author

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I intend on not writing any more A/N unless absolutely necessary after this, but I just need to get a little bit of info out before we start (not that any of you are actually going to bother reading this, but if you are, good on you!). Anyway, this story is inspired by the story that @Literallyobsessed wrote: "The Highschool Experiment." I absolutely loved their idea, and I think that there should be more stories like it out there. That's why I'm doing this. Plus, once I get a story idea my head, there is nothing that make it go away. I'm going to try and keep this story in 3rd person all the way, but who knows what will happen?! Also, in this story, Percy and Annabeth are both 17, and they are both seniors. This story can also be found on Tumblr, Wattpad, FF, and Inkitt.
> 
> THIS GOES FOR THE WHOLE STORY: I don't own PJO, sadly. That title goes to Uncle Rick. The plot's mine though. Sorry if any PJO characters turn a little OOC, I can't control that, but I'll try.
> 
> And I just wanted to thank my wonderful and amazing beta, JJ. You can find them on Ao3 as nightskywithrainbows. Go check them out!
> 
> That's it! I hope you enjoy this story, and please comment and leave kudos! 
> 
> Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author

Percy Jackson: the popular captain of the swim team.

Annabeth Chase: the nerdy new girl.

Both of them are on opposite sides of the popularity scale, and are thought to have never even spoken to one another. However, that rumor is completely wrong. In fact, Percy and Annabeth are dating, just without the knowledge of their classmates.

There are a lot of things about those two that the students at Goode High have no idea about. For example, they are both part of the most powerful group of demigods alive, and they are the unofficial leaders of Camp Half-blood, one of only two safe places in the world for demigods. But enough of that, let's get back to their secretive habits.

Three weeks ago, Percy and Annabeth were enjoying themselves with the rest of the Seven and Nico at Percy's apartment when Leo made a remark about Percy and Annabeth's relationship...

"Look at you two! I haven't seen you guys apart since Annabeth went on her quest! You guys have some _serious_ codependency issues." he said.

Percy and Annabeth gave each other an incredulous look before Annabeth responded, "Not true! I can handle being apart from him!"

The prideful young demigod couldn't just ignore a direct blow to her pride, whether it be intentional or not.

"Yeah, right! I'll believe it when I see it," Jason cut in.

"You know what? We will prove it to you, one day, we will," Annabeth vowed.

Two weeks later, Annabeth was starting at Goode, and the opportunity had arisen for the duo to prove their friends wrong. Just as they were about to leave for school, Annabeth got the idea that they should pretend to not know each other at school and see how long they could last. Percy was hesitant at first, but was evidently convinced by his girlfriend, as always.

Now, another week having passed, Percy and Annabeth were walking to school. When they get closer, they have to separate so that it doesn't look like they came together, but for the moment, they were walking hand-in-hand down the sidewalk.

"Are you sure you wanna keep doing this? I mean, I hate not being able to kiss you at school! It's torture to see you ten feet away, but have us not even give each other a hug!" Percy said.

"I'm sure. This can be good for us; having some space, you know," Annabeth exclaimed.

"Alright, fine," he sighed, and then started to walk faster because Goode was coming into their sights, "Just know that I'm expecting a prize at the end of today for my efforts, ok?"

Annabeth just rolled her eyes and started to slow her strides.

When Percy and Annabeth entered the senior hallway, he walked over to his friends and she walked over to hers, his being a considerably larger group. Percy's real friends consist of mostly the people from the swim team, but there's still a group of people that just use his friendship for popularity. For example, Kelsey Evans, Goode's resident mean girl. She wants to become Percy's girlfriend so bad, but he always rejects her. Unfortunately, she keeps coming back, and when she thinks someone else is going to try something with Percy, she bullies them away. The only reason Percy puts up with her is so that he can keep an eye on her.

Annabeth's friend group consists of four other people, two boys and two girls. There is Nora, Addison, Noah, and Ethan. They are all the 'nerdy' type, so they spend most of their free time either in the library or together. Annabeth met Nora first, and she immediately got the run-down of the school social hierarchy from her. At first, Annabeth was surprised to hear that her boyfriend was at the top, considering how much of a Seaweed Brain he can be.

At Annabeth's friend group, Noah was actually speaking about the 'cool' group, "Look how righteous they are, thinking they're better than everyone else! I mean, do they really have to block the entire hallway?"

It was a well known fact in their group that Noah didn't like the cool kids. Apparently it had something to do with a swimming lesson in PE last year.

"At least Percy's kinda nice," Addison added.

"I guess, but he's also kinda scary. I mean, the way that he's beat up some kids! Maybe people just say he's nice cuz' they're scared of him," Ethan said.

"Aren't the kids he beats up bullies?" Nora asked.

"Whatever, I still don't think someone who keeps company like Kelsey should be given the benefit of the doubt," he said.

Without anyone knowing, Annabeth had actually been staring at Percy. His unruly hair, his bright, sea green eyes, and the way that little dimples appeared when he smiled his big, dopey grin could make any girl swoon. Fortunately, she managed to break herself out of her daze before her friends figured out what was wrong with her. She would never tell Percy this, but she was struggling to remain in control of her actions just as much as he was.

The warning bell rang, and everyone started to slowly head towards their first class of the day. The next time Percy and Annabeth would see each other would be in the one of only two classes they shared: Advanced Greek. All of their other classes were separate because Annabeth was taking almost all advanced classes and Percy was only taking the one.

In that class, Percy and Annabeth just so happened to be seated on opposite sides of the room. So, the only class they have together and they aren't even near each other. It's perfect! Annabeth sits next to Addison, and Percy sits next to someone else crazy enough to take Advanced Greek.

When fourth period Greek came around, Percy and Annabeth gave each other a glance as they entered the room, but that was it. That glance was a secret message that they had come up with on the first day: I love you. I was just a reassurance that this whole ordeal wasn't affecting their love for each other.

"Alright class, today we're going to have a pop-quiz! I know, I know, I'm your favorite teacher!" Mr. Anastas said while handing out the papers for the quiz, "You have 20 minutes to finish, afterwards it is free time."

Annabeth and Percy both loved this class because they didn't really have to try in it, the language just came easily. It may not be Ancient Greek, but it's still understandable.

Percy gave Annabeth a glance with a smirk as a form silent communication to say 'race you!'. Annabeth didn't even answer, she just got to work. It only took her three minutes to finish, and just as she was getting up, Percy was doing the same. They both tried to speed-walk without anyone noticing, but by the time they neared the teacher's desk, they were practically running. Just as Annabeth was about to place her paper down, Percy slammed his down before she could. The noise caused everyone to jump and look up to where is came from. What shocked everyone was what they found:

Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase staring each other down!

Addison's eyes widened when she realized that her best friend was glaring at _the_ Percy Jackson. And he was glaring right back!

 _"I won! Haha!"_ Percy exclaimed in Ancient Greek with a huge grin on his face.

 _"Not true! You cheated, Seaweed Brain!"_ Annabeth rebutted.

 _"Careful, your hubris is showing,"_ Percy pointed at her.

Seething, Annabeth finally took the time to realize that the entire class, including Mr. Anastas was watching their exchange. She blushed and said, _"We should get back to our seats. Bye."_

While she turned away, Annabeth could hear Percy yell something at her before he turned to his own seat: _"I love you!"_

 _S_ he just rolled her eyes. _Seaweed Brain,_ she thought.

When she got back to her seat, her friend seemed to be trying to figure out what they were saying. Luckily, the teacher and the rest of the class were doing the same thing. If anyone had caught onto what Percy said at the end of their conversation, their secret would be exposed a lot sooner than anticipated.

The rest of Greek class included people rushing to finish their quizzes, the teacher trying to figure out how his students knew more Greek than him, and Percy and Annabeth trying to avoid looking at each other. They didn't need anyone suspecting they actually knew each other!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reminder! This is also on Tumblr, Wattpad, FF, and Inkitt. Also, go read Literallyobsessed's story "The Highschool Experiment." This story was inspired by it. Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> Thanks, JJ (nightskywithrainbows). They are a writer, too, so you should go check out their amazing works on Ao3!
> 
> – your author

The next period was Lunch, so Percy and Annabeth were bound to see each other again. Even so, they were on a mission to keep their secret, so they tried avoiding each other's eyes for the beginning of lunch. However, their friends seemed to be on a mission of their own to expose their plan, whether they were aware of it or not.

At Annabeth's table, her friends were discussing her and Percy's little conversation in Greek class. At Goode, word spreads quickly when it involves Percy Jackson.

"Come on, Annabeth! What were you saying to each other?" Nora exclaimed, exasperated.

"It was nothing, and I didn't even really know what I was saying anyway. It was just a bunch of random bonus phrases you can get off the internet, ok?" Annabeth answered, looking down and playing with her food.

Her friend just stared at her with a raised eyebrow, "Annabeth Chase, the know-it-all, didn't know something? I doubt it."

Yeah...maybe playing dumb should be left to Percy. Even Annabeth was having a hard time forcing herself to act like she didn't know what she was saying last period.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter anyways. Just drop it," Annabeth ordered, letting her leader-voice drip in subconsciously.

Her friend looked a little taken aback, but another look from Annabeth silenced any protests.

"I still can't believe you even  _ talked _ to Percy," Noah said, a look of fake wonder on his face, "I mean, you're just a nobody, and he's  _ Percy Jackson _ ."

Annabeth couldn't resist the urge to roll her eyes. Everyone thinking Percy was some kind of untouchable object was starting to get on her nerves. Sure, at camp, new campers seemed to practically worship them, but here? All they know about him is that he went missing for 8 months, came back different, and is amazing at swimming.

_ Mortals need to raise their standards on what's to be considered cool, that's for sure,  _ she thought.

At the same time, Percy's friends, Mike, Jack, and Chloe were starting to interrogate their own friend. These three people were Percy's closest mortal friends, mostly because they didn't care about popularity. All they were interested in was Percy, not his status. And it was them that knew he didn't randomly have a full-fledged conversation with a stranger in another language.

"Seriously, what happened? I heard from the grapevine that you and somebody named Annabeth Chase started screaming at each other in Greek and it ended with you both getting suspended. But obviously, that can't be true because you're sitting here with us right now, so...what happened?" Jack asked.

His words seemed to silence everyone at the table, even the fake-friends. All were interested in the true story of what happened, even if it wasn't that big of a thing. Anything involving their popularity producer demanded listening-to. Or something like that.

"We just talked for a second. It wasn't that interesting," Percy tried to answer cryptically.

"But why were you talking to a complete stranger?" Chloe asked, joining-in on the conversation.

"She isn–We just finished our tests at the same time and started a little talk. I honestly can't even remember what was said," Percy said.

That was a lie. Percy remembered every word that was said, especially the end. But his friends didn't need to know that.

"Come on, man! Give us something! I'm starving for a rumor!" Mike exclaimed.

That caused Percy to glare at him and say, "Just drop it."

Mike's eyes widened in shock, and he looked like he was about to start a fight, but one look from Chloe, his girlfriend, silenced him.

Then, just like it had never happened, Percy went back to normal. He regained his signature troublemaker smirk and finished eating his lunch.

* * *

Percy and Annabeth had separate 5th period classes, so they saw each other after another hour. The second class they shared was PE, and it was during 6th period.

As soon as the bell rang, signaling the end of 5th period, Percy was bolting towards the locker room. This was because today was the first day of the swimming unit, and everyone knows Percy is obsessed with water.

Annabeth, even if she did walk a little faster, attempted to hide her excitement. She speed-walked into the girl's locker room, grabbed her swimsuit, and changed as quickly as possible.

Unlike Percy, she had the sense to ask Lady Hecate if she could use the Mist to hide her more gruesome scars at school. That way she didn't have to explain why she had claw-marks running across her back.

By the time she was walking out of the changing room, the rest of the class had arrived, and Percy was waiting by their teacher, bouncing from foot to foot in barely-contained excitement. The sight brought an involuntary smile to reach Annabeth's lips, and she was forced to hide it before anyone caught her looking at Percy so lovingly.

She walked up to the teacher and joined them in waiting for the rest of the class to change. In an attempt to stay away from Percy's bubbly energy, Annabeth stood six or so feet away from him with a stoic expression. This was the face she wore when she was intentionally masking her emotions. It may have been a mistake using it at school, but it was a part of her, and a daughter of Athena should never be afraid of being who they are.

Once everyone had shown up, the teacher took roll and started giving instructions, "Alright class, today we're just going to be practicing basic form while doing laps around the pool. For those of you on the swim team, you can choose to practice some more advanced strokes, ok? Now, let's get a volunteer to show us a good breaststroke. Anyone?"

Percy literally jumped at the opportunity to get in the water, and before anyone knew it, he was performing a perfectly-formed breaststroke. The sight caused Annabeth to smirk and think,  _ showoff _ .

Once he had finished showing off, Percy jumped out of the pool, careful to make himself wet, and walked back over to the group. He had the biggest smile on his face, and it was hard for everyone to not smile along.

"That was great, Percy! I see why they made you the captain of the team! You have a natural talent in the water!" their teacher said, not realizing how true his words were.

Annabeth and Percy couldn't help but catch each other's eye with a knowing glint in them. It was hard not to when the one person in the entire student body that actually  _ knew _ the other was standing right in front of you.

Fortunately, it wasn't caught by anyone who cared to speak up. The only person who seemed to see it was Addison, and she didn't think it was necessary to put any thought into it at the time.

"Yeah. That's what a lot of people tell me," Percy said, shaking his hair out.

Little did he know, that little act made most girls in the room swoon. Percy was so effortlessly handsome, and he didn't even know it!

It would've made Annabeth laugh if she wasn't a part of the swooning. But unlike the others, she knew how to hide it. All that changed in her demeanor was her lips twitching up ever-so-slightly.

That little hair flip almost made her decide to call off the entire plan and just kiss her boyfriend. However, she was able to snap herself out of it before any rash decisions could be made.

The rest of the class was spent by Percy and the few other swimmers working on their own while the left-over students would work on their breaststroke form. Annabeth could've kept up with the swim team members, but she had no interest in doing so. The only reason she was any good was because she had trained at camp with Percy, and it felt wrong doing it with other people around. Swimming was something she did in the demigod world, and right now, she was in the mortal world. That meant that she was a nerdy new girl.

"Ok, class, go get changed. Class ends in five minutes," their teacher announced.

Everyone but the swim team members started to head to the locker rooms to take their showers, dry off, and change. Nobody was in any hurry because this was the last class of the day.

The swimmers stayed in their suits because they had practice right after school. They just grabbed some towels to dry off and that was it.

Annabeth was the first one to finish changing, and the bell hadn’t rung yet, so she just stood by the pool and the swim team members. They were in their own conversation, but as soon as she had walked towards them, Percy had drifted over to Annabeth. It was instinctual; he acted without thinking about it.

Percy did a lot of things that way.

Annabeth acted like she didn't notice his presence beside her, but he knew she could sense him. Demigod senses were too highly-tuned for them to not realize when someone was standing next to them. Instead of initiating the conversation, Annabeth decided that the best way to maintain their cover was to just keep staring at the water. Unfortunately, Percy didn't catch the memo.

"So...my friends keep asking me what happened in Greek," he said softly.

"Same. And it's your fault; it was your idea to race. Now there's suspicion," Annabeth said back, finally looking up at her boyfriend.

She had recently started to really appreciate the moments when she gets to look at his face head-on more. How, despite going through Tartarus, his eyes still held that happy glint. And how his mouth was always holding that troublemaker smirk. His eyes seemed to be sucking her in, and if she didn't watch herself, they would find themselves kissing without a care in the world for the people around them.

"It was  _ so  _ not my fault! You started it!" Percy's voice started to rise slightly.

"Quiet down! We need to keep anyone from suspecting our relationship," Annabeth reminded him.

Percy sighed, "Why do we have to do this again? I'm getting tired of waiting to kiss you until we're home."

" _ Remember, I promised you a reward for all your hard work tonight, _ " Annabeth said in Ancient Greek in an attempt to keep her boyfriend from destroying all their hard work.

" _ Oh yeah...do I get to choose this reward? _ " Percy asked, not even realizing he was speaking in Ancient Greek, too.

What neither of them realized was that they were slowly starting to step closer and closer to each other in a challenging stance.

" _ Maybe...depends on what you want, _ " Annabeth answered.

" _ I think I might have something in mind... _ " he said, drifting off into his imagination.

It was then that Annabeth finally realized how close the two were standing. Using her usual quick-thinking, she found a way to distract from what was happening.

Annabeth pushed Percy into the pool and stormed away.

She may be acting like she was mad, but she really wasn't. Annabeth just needed the newly-arrived rest of the class to forget about what had happened before. When she listened, Annabeth could hear people gasping and Percy sputtering in the pool. He had figured out that he needed to act like he had gotten caught by surprise and that he wasn't someone who could breathe underwater. He had also needed to focus so that he stayed wet.

The only one Annabeth's plan didn't work on was Addison, who had stayed in her spot, unmoving (unlike everyone else), and watched Annabeth exit the room with narrowed eyes. Addison may not know what was going on between Percy and Annabeth, but she did know that they knew each other, somehow.

* * *


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I just want to mention that I'm actually doing ok with my updating schedule! Like, somebody document this rare occasion! Ok, that's it. Comment and leave kudos! Happy reading! Thanks to my amazing beta, JJ, this story doesn't suck!
> 
> \- your author

With just a simple text telling Percy she was going home, Annabeth left. Percy had practice until 4:00, so she had decided that it would be best to just go home. That way she can get SOME homework done before Percy is able to distract her. 

When she got home, which is the Jackson-Blofis apartment, she headed straight to her desk in her room (well, technically, it's her's and Percy's, since they share a room). With only 45 minutes left until practice ended, she needed to rush in order to get enough done. 

She chose to start with English, her hardest subject, so that she could just get it over with. 

Meanwhile, at the school, Percy's team was laughing at him, hysterically. 

"What–what did you do to get that girl to hate you so much?!" Mike asked once Percy had pulled himself out of the pool.

"She doesn't hate me," Percy frowned, wiping himself off with a towel.

His friends shared a look, "Yeah, you keep telling yourself that."

"Whatever," Percy sighed and then smiled, "Five extra laps for that!"

Sometimes, being the captain has its perks!

After that, nobody dared mention the encounter, at least not to his face. In fact, it seemed like the team was putting an extra effort into their work today. It made it seem like practice flew by, to the point that their couch needed to remind Percy that it was two minutes until 4:00. 

"Oh! Everybody out! Practice is over!" he exclaimed, rushing to the locker room to shower. 

By the time he had showered, left, and finally reached his apartment complex, it was 4:20. 

He was in a rush to get home for his scheduled Annabeth-time. To some, this might sound idiotic, but to someone who only gets so much time to spend with his girlfriend, it's completely normal. When Percy was allowed to acknowledge Annabeth as his girlfriend, he became _pretty_ clingy. 

When he barged into the apartment, Annabeth was just finishing up her last problem on her Math homework. She was only able to finish English and Math during her alone-time. 

As soon as she heard the door slam open, she turned her chair around and grew a small smile on her face. Like clockwork, Percy went straight to their room and ran right to her. In his excitement, he just went on instinct and lifted his girlfriend up into his arms, giving her a big, deep kiss on the lips. 

At first, Annabeth gasped and didn't respond, but eventually, when she realized Percy wasn't going to stop, she started to move her lips against his. Without even realizing it, they had started to drift towards their bed. Before they knew it, Percy was leaning up against the headboard with Annabeth straddling him and kissing down his neck. 

They probably would've kept on doing this for hours if Paul hadn't decided to come home at that moment, "Percy! Annabeth! I'm home!"

With a sigh, Annabeth pushed off of Percy and just leaned her head against his chest, "That was nice."

Percy, with a content grin, said, "Yeah. I miss you being my girlfriend. Why can't we just call this whole this off?"

"I miss you, too, but we can't stop now. There is _no way_ that Leo was right!" she responded.

"Fine, but it's just getting kinda boring now. At first, it was fun, but now it just makes me have the urge to jump you every time I see you," Percy admitting shamelessly.

Annabeth started to roll her eyes, but then she had an idea, and her features changed completely. 

Percy, noticing the change, realized what was going on. That look was her 'I have an idea' look. You can never know what to expect from that look. 

"Annabeeeth. You have that look on your face again. What's your idea?" he asked. 

"What if–what if we spice things up a bit?" she muttered, looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" Percy asked, skeptical.

"We can turn this whole challenge into a competition. Whoever breaks first loses," Annabeth answered. 

Percy thought about it for a second, and then realized that this could work. It would let them still prove Leo wrong...while creating a competition for him and Annabeth. Their relationship can't really survive without something for them to win. 

"Ok, deal. We start tomorrow at school," Percy said, nodding his head and gaining a look of determination. 

Annabeth smiled, " _Oh, I'm so going to kick your ass_." 

"Sure you are," Percy countered.

"I sure am!" she defended, her pride flaring up. 

"Ok," Percy said simply and leaned in for a kiss to silence her. 

"Mmph," Annabeth tried to struggle against his hold, but it was no use. 

Percy was on a mission to enjoy his Annabeth-time, and that meant spending it doing whatever he wanted. And right now, he wants kiss his girlfriend. Sure, they would need to emerge before Paul decided to go looking for them, but for now, they could spend a little bit longer doing this. 

* * *

The next day, Percy and Annabeth were both silent on the way to school. They had unconsciously decided to go into competitive-mode as soon as they had woken up. The only proof from that morning that showed they were dating was a quick peck on the lips after breakfast. 

Convinced she had to make the first move, Annabeth had worn a large sweatshirt over her shirt today. Instead of wearing a scandalous shit, like some girls might do, she decided to wear a white, cropped tank top under her cropped, sea green crochet shirt. It has always been Percy's favorite, partly because it was the color of his eyes, and partly because it was what she wore on their first official date. To top it off, she had a secret weapon to add once she had revealed her outfit. 

Percy and his friends were, as per usual, clumped around his locker, and Annabeth and her friends were standing on the other side of the hallway around some of their lockers. Percy and Annabeth were both trying to act like they were actually listening to the conversations, but in reality they were trying to not-so-discreetly keep an eye on the other. 

"Oh! And then there's something I forgot to mention: People think you and Annabeth Chase hate each other!" Kelsey exclaimed, getting really close to Percy. 

"Huh?" Percy said, finally zoning into what his friends were talking about.

"Yeah, apparently there's a rumor going around that she pushed you into a pool, and now people think you hate each other," she replied.

"Well, it isn't a rumor. That girl definitely pushed him in!" Chloe confirmed.

"That bitch! I'll destroy her, Percy! I will!" Kelsey said, looking up at him with eager eyes.

"No! I'll deal with it!" he yelled, a little too quickly. 

Kelsey pouted, but she didn't seem like she was quite done yet. No doubt she was planning on doing it anyway. 

Meanwhile, Annabeth had just shut down her friend's many questions about her and the school's most popular boy. 

"How can you hate him?! He's, like the nicest guy in the school!" Nora exclaimed. 

"For the last time, I DON'T HATE HIM! I just don't necessarily enjoy his company," Annabeth said.

She just couldn't bring herself to say she hated him. Even if her pride was at stake. 

However, it would be a little suspicious if she didn't say ANYTHING bad about him after pushing him into a pool. Annabeth still had a cover to withhold!

Her friends seemed to finally realize she wasn't going to change her answer, so they gave up momentarily. Fortunately, Percy happened to glance over at their group right at that moment, so Annabeth took the opportunity to make the first move. 

She slowly lifted her sweatshirt off, revealing her first trick. A look up, and she saw Percy's eyes widen slightly. Then, as her surprise attack, Annabeth let her hair out of its messy ponytail, leaving it to cascade down her back in her perfect blonde, princess curls. 

That's what got Percy's mouth to drop. Unfortunately, he got ahold of himself before too much notice was taken. Then, his gaze hardened into its wolf glare, and he walked away. 

Even if it could've had more effect, Annabeth still counted that as a win. 

For Percy, he was having the realization that Annabeth had just upped the stakes. Now, he needed to retaliate with something better. 

* * *

During Greek, Percy gave Annabeth the usual glance, and then he completely ignored her presence for the rest the period. He was planning his counterattack. 

Plenty of ideas came to him, but none of them seemed to out-do what Annabeth did. Her actions may seem small to ordinary viewers, but to him, they have an unimaginable effect.

Just as he was sitting down for lunch, and he had spared a glance over to Annabeth and her friends, the idea hit him like a brick to Jason's head. It was so simple, yet so perfect!

Annabeth had decided that she could enjoy some time with her mortal friends while Percy was recovering. Little did she know that he would recover faster than expected. 

"Ok, seriously, we need some context for your encounter with Percy," Ethan insisted. 

"Fine, I finished getting changed, he walked over to me, we talked, I pushed him into the pool. That enough for you?" Annabeth answered. 

"No, but I don't think I'm going to be getting much else. You really _must_ hate this guy if he's making you act like this," he muttered.

"I DON'T HATE HIM!" she yelled, throwing her hands up in the air. 

Percy chose that moment to strike, "That's great, cuz' it was really starting to seem that way."

All of her friends' eyes widened, and some of their mouths even dropped, but Annabeth just kept on looking straight ahead. She would not give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of her!

Percy sat down across from her, "I mean, everybody thinks you hate me. It's so weird what one little incident at the pool can cause, right?"

"Yeah," Annabeth said.

Even though she had a pretty excellent poker face, Percy could see right through it. He knew what he was doing to her, and he wanted to add to it. Percy reached his foot across the ground, under the table, to where it was just touching Annabeth's. That's what shocked a reaction out of her. Her entire body straightened, like she had just gotten shocked by one of the Grace siblings. 

It all made Percy's troublemaker smirk grow larger. Normally, Annabeth would find his smirk cute, but not now. Not when she was on the other end of it. 

In an attempt to redeem herself, Annabeth sharpened her glare, grabbed her tray, and left the table. She didn't say a word, just kept glaring Percy right in the eyes. 

Nothing could stop Percy now, though. He was on cloud 9! At least, for now. 

When he gets home, that could be a whole other story. Because somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered that Annabeth was silently confirming that they were going to be discussing this later. Even if she had been in the wrong, too, he was probably going to end up being the one sleeping on the couch tonight. 

In the words of Jason, Percy was majorly whipped. He would do anything to make Annabeth happy, including admitting he did something worse when he really didn't. 

Anyway, he left the table soon after, but he didn't go back to his friend group. Instead, he left to wait by his next class' door. 

As he got farther and farther away from the cafeteria, Percy started to get more and more worried. Knowing Annabeth, she would wait until they were alone at home, and then she would start yelling at him. And then she would act sad, whether her emotions were real or not, and to make her stop, Percy would agree to anything. It works every time.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this was a little jumbled. I didn't want to waste the sudden opportunity of inspiration. I couldn't really find a good ending, so I just kinda stopped. I needed to go to sleep. That's it! Comment and leave kudos! Happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, for starters, don't worry! I won't make Annabeth mean, I'll just make is clear that Percy is utterly and completely whipped. Or maybe I won't. Who knows? You just have to read to find out. And I'm sorry if this chapter seems more like a script. I had a small case of writers block. 
> 
> Now, I think that's it, so comment and leave kudos! Happy reading!
> 
> – your author

Ok, so Percy was half-right. Annabeth DID wait until they were both home to act, but not in the way he had expected.

As soon as he had closed the front door, he was immediately pushed up against it again. Annabeth was kissing him fiercely, and it took a second for him to respond, but Percy ended up kissing her back just as passionately. In the end, Annabeth was the one to pull them apart (but not before they had ended up on the couch).

"What was  _ that?! _ " Percy asked, eyebrows raised.

"I love you," Annabeth said, breathless.

"Ok, I love you, too, but WHAT WAS THAT?" he asked again.

Annabeth sighed and moved so she was sitting next to him, "Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to not do that at school today?"

_ Ok, not what I was expecting. But not necessarily bad,  _ Percy thought.

"I do know, but I thought you would be pissed at me for doing what I did at lunch today," he said before he could stop himself from bringing it up.

"Oh, I am. But I needed to do that more," Annabeth replied.

And she was mad, but she had known to expect something in retaliation for doing what she did that morning. Annabeth couldn't really blame him for wanting pay-back, even if it was completely evil. Even so, he was most definitely going to be paying for what he did. She couldn't just LET him do that without getting him back for it! And just like she usually does, Annabeth had a plan.

"Oh, good. I was starting to get wor–" Percy was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open.

"Mr. McShizzle-Bad-Boy-Supreme is in the house!"

"Leo," Percy and Annabeth sighed in unison.

"And us!" Piper exclaimed.

When they actually looked, Percy and Annabeth saw that Leo, Calypso, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, Nico, and Thalia were all barging into their apartment. That's one thing you can also expect from demigods: no manners.

"Oh, well, just come on it, guys!" Annabeth exclaimed with a heavy amount of sarcasm.

"It's not like you're interrupting or anything!" Percy said the same way.

"Thanks!" Thalia said.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged a look, "What do you want?"

"We just wanted to check in on you guys. See how you're doing without each other," Piper answered.

"Yeah, right. You wanted to see if we've cracked yet," Percy said.

"Well..." Jason said.

Thalia didn't have any such hesitation with admitting their true intentions, though, "I would  _ never  _ pass up a chance to see my little cuz suffer!"

"Well, you will be sorely disappointed because we are still keeping the secret with ease!" Annabeth cut quickly.

"Is that right?" Frank asked.

"Yes," Percy replied simply.

"Ok! Now where's the food? Papa's hungry!" Leo exclaimed, marching off to the kitchen.

The topic of their challenge was never brought up again for the rest of the night. The demigods and titaness just enjoyed spending time together. However, they couldn't stay together for long, because of the monsters. Having that many monster-attractors in one place was just asking for an attack of momentous proportions. So, the group enjoyed some dinner, and then they left.

Sally and Paul had decided to go out on a date that night, so they had only come home for a little while to get ready, and then they had left, trusting Annabeth and Percy enough to leave them home alone.

"Oh! I forgot to mention that Mike, Jack, and Chloe are gonna be coming over tomorrow to hang out. If you don't want them finding out, then you should probably stay out of the apartment after school," Percy said as they were getting ready for bed that night.

"Ok. Goodnight," Annabeth answered simply, crawling into bed.

"That's it? Nothing else?" he exclaimed incredulously.

"Yep! Love you," she said.

"Love you, too," Percy said, accepting he wasn't going to get anything else out of his girlfriend, and climbing into bed as well.

* * *

The next day at school, Percy was on edge the entire time. He was expecting Annabeth to retaliate sooner. But when she didn't, that just made him get even more suspicious. It is never good to let your guard down when you're in a competition with Annabeth Chase. He learned that the hard way.

So, he was still on edge when he was walking home with his friends.

"Is it weird that we haven't been to your house yet?" Chloe asked.

"Not really. Nobody from school but Paul has been to my apartment," Percy answered, shrugging.

Jack shook his head, "It still feels so weird to hear you call Mr. Blofis Paul."

"He  _ is _ his step-father," Chloe pointed out as they were going up the elevator.

"Whatever, all I care about is seeing what's inside of the  _ famous Percy Jackson's _ apartment," Mike said.

Percy just rolled his eyes. He wasn't  _ that  _ popular. It was bad enough having people treat him like he was the next Hercules at camp, and now he has to deal with it at school, too. It almost makes him wish he was back to being picked-on by Nancy Bobofit in the sixth grade! Almost.

"Welcome to my humble home!" Percy said dramatically, opening the door and widening his arms.

"Wow, it's very...homey," Mike said.

"I guess..." Percy dragged out his words.

His friends started to inspect everything in the living room, which doubled as the entrance room. They looked at all of the pictures of younger Percy, as a baby and as a demigod. Percy started to panic when he saw Jack looking at a picture of him, Grover, and Annabeth just after their first quest. They were all covered in dirt and scrapes, but they were also all grinning like idiots. That tended to happen when you had just prevented a major war between the gods.

Just as he was about to try and explain why there was a picture of him with Annabeth Chase, Jack moved on to another picture, not evening mentioning anything. Apparently his friends weren't that observant. It probably also helped that they hadn't really been close enough to Annabeth to realize that she was the same person in the picture.

"What do you guys wanna do?" Percy asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Movie and snacks?" Mike suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Percy exclaimed, hopping up to grab food from the kitchen.

"Anything involving food sounds good to you, Seaweed Brain!"

That single sentence caused everyone to freeze. Standing under the entrance to the hall, was Annabeth Chase. In one of Percy's shirts no less! Don't be getting the wrong idea though, she had shorts on under there.

"Um–uh," Percy stammered.

"Very intelligent, Perseus," Annabeth laughed.

"Um, Percy? Why is there a girl in your house, wearing your shirt?" Jack asked, being the first one out of Percy's friends to regain the use of his voice.

But he never got an answer because suddenly, Mike broke out of his shock and yelled, "That's freaking Annabeth Chase!"

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I'm leaving you on a cliffhanger! Mwahaha!!! And maybe I won't write for another chapter for an entire week. Or maybe I'll update tomorrow. Only I know! I wanted to–and I could've–make this chapter longer, but I just thought that this was the perfect opportunity to keep you on the edge of your seats in anticipation. Or something like that...
> 
> My amazing beta has helped me where I fall short, so they deserve a BIG shoutout. Thanks, JJ! Ao3: nightskywithrainbows.
> 
> Anyway, comment and leave kudos! I hope you enjoyed this, and happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it wasn't EXACTLY a day, but close enough. I, not unlike you, can't seem to stop thinking about this story. It's like when you get a good book, and you can't put it down. Well, now I can't stop writing this story. Also, I'm sorry if these chapters aren't that long, I just go with what comes to me in the moment, and sometimes that isn't that much. Plus, most of the time I'm writing at 2 in the morning, so...yeah. 
> 
> Reminder, this is also on Tumblr, Wattpad, FF, and Inkitt. Happy reading and stay safe!
> 
> – your author

"Yes, and you're Mike, Chloe, and Jack. Percy's friends," Annabeth smiled at them, "I'm Annabeth."

Percy was still in a state of shock. He couldn't even form coherent words! All that was running through his mind was  _ Annabeth, here, friends, here, Annabeth here...  _

It was on a continuous loop.

"Yes, we are. So then why are YOU here?" Chloe demanded, giving Annabeth her best glare (which compared to Annabeth's was nothing).

"Well, I think Percy can explain that for you just fine!" Annabeth exclaimed with mock-enthusiasm.

Everyone shifted their gazes to the demigod in question, but all he could do was open and close his mouth like a fish. Annabeth had to stifle a snort at the sight. Her boyfriend seemed to be stuck. Looks like her payback is going just according to plan!

"Percy?" Mike asked his friend, furrowing his eyebrows.

That one word somehow struck him out of his stupor, and he instantly said, "It isn't what it looks like!"

Chloe raised her eyebrows at that, "So there isn't a girl, who is rumored to hate you, standing there in your shirt?"

Percy resisted the urge to just run out of there. The ADHD side of his brain was starting to realize that THIS must be Annabeth's retaliation. It was  _ so  _ her that it made him feel stupid for not recognizing it sooner.

"I told you, we don't hate each other!" Percy shouted, letting his anger leak out before he could stop it.

Percy could usually keep a good grasp on his emotions, but the situation was just overwhelming him too much. His Poseidon side causes him to go from calm to freaking out in an instant. And on top of it all, his powers are tied to his emotions, so if he isn’t able to control himself when he gets kitchen duty at camp, things could get very wet.

Because of all these clashing emotions, Percy didn't realize that he had started to make the water in their dispenser start to shake. It started off slow, just little ripples, but it quickly escalated to thrashing around in an attempt to escape. It very clearly showed his current emotions.

"Percy! Get ahold of yourself!" Annabeth shouted, walking up to her boyfriend and taking him by the shoulders.

Annabeth didn't even care that his friends were standing next to them. If Percy REALLY lost it, she wasn’t sure anyone would be able to stop him. Only he could. And it would still probably take awhile.

And this still was over something as trivial as losing a competition.

But he wasn't the one to break first, because, acting on instinct, Annabeth kissed Percy. She tried to put all her thoughts of calming down into it, as well as all her love. Sometimes this happened when he had bad nightmares, and she was the only one able to break him out of it.

"Huh?" Percy finally snapped out of it when they broke apart.

"Oh, thank the gods," Annabeth sighed in relief.

"Umm...what just happened?" Mike asked, clearly confused.

That made Percy and Annabeth remember that they still had company. Now they had to deal with something even worse than Percy losing control: explaining.

"Heeeey, guys! Have you met Annabeth Chase?" Percy pointed to his girlfriend.

_ "Vlakas,"  _ Annabeth sighed, rubbing between her eyebrows.

Chloe crossed her arms and gained a 'don't mess with me' look. "Care to explain why you just kissed a girl who you've never met?"

Well, it seems that the Mist has worked its magic once again! At least now they didn’t have to explain why Percy was controlling water while having a panic attack from going on a multitude of dangerous quests for gods that are 'myths.'

That would be bad.

"I'm his girlfriend," Annabeth answered before Percy could come up with some elaborate excuse that nobody would believe.

However, her idea wasn't exactly the best either. All Percy could do in response to that statement was stare at her with wide, stunned eyes.

His friends didn't seem to be expecting that answer either. Jack seemed physically affected, falling onto his butt.

"Uh, what?" Mike asked, being the first to voice any questions.

"Yes! She's. My. Girlfriend," Percy said, sounding REALLY proud for someone only declaring a relationship.

Chloe's thoughts finally spilled out of her head, "For how long? Why didn't you tell us? I thought we were your friends!"

Because of his fatal flaw, those words affected Percy a lot, "Of COURSE you're my friends! This was just part of some stupid competition!"

And now both of their fatal flaws were flaring up, "Stupid competition? Perseus Jackson, are you calling me stupid!?"

Oh, no. Full name. That's never good.

It seemed that Annabeth's outburst had sucked all of Percy's other problems away, and now all his focus was on his girlfriend. Just further proof that he was completely and utterly whipped.

"No! You are amazing, smart, and beautiful. I love you so much, and I would never, EVERcall you stupid!" he reassured her.

And that's all she needed, so Annabeth's scowl turned into a delighted grin, and she even seemed to stand up straighter, too. This was still a part of her plan (sorta). Athena plans for everything, after all!

"That's great! Now, I'll just leave you to explain everything else to YOUR friends," Annabeth said, skipping back to their room.

All of Percy's friends turned to him once again and Mike laughed, "Dude, you are SERIOUSLY whipped!"

"Whatever. Let's go to the couch," Percy sighed, already feeling a headache coming on, "I think I need to be sitting down for this."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I found an ending place earlier than expected! My goal for each chapter is that I at LEAST reach 1000 or so words. Plus, I tried to write less dialogue this time, but I think I just ended up making it worse than the last chapter. But don't worry, next chapter will hopefully be full of those long, annoying paragraphs! 🤣
> 
> Special thanks to my amazing beta reader, JJ! nightskywithrainbows in Ao3!
> 
> Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading! 
> 
> – your author


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I'm back! And it's 2 AM, again. I'm starting to really believe that all my best ideas come at this time. It's unhealthy because I can't seem to fall asleep without doing something first, usually publishing a chapter. Anyway, this story is far from over, so stop freaking out. Thank you. 
> 
> I also just wanted to mention that I am so grateful for all the love I've been receiving for this story. It means more than you guys could ever know. So, thank you. 
> 
> Also, special thanks to JJ, or nightskywithrainbows, my amazing beta reader who I would be lost without.
> 
> THIS STORY IS NOT COMPLETED! I DON'T KNOW WHY IT SAYS IT IS, BUT IT ISN'T!
> 
> Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and Happy reading!
> 
> – your author

"Ok. Let me get this straight: You and Annabeth are dating, and have been for almost two years?!" Jack exclaimed, "I don't believe it. I call BS!"

Percy just sighed and leaned his head farther back, to where he was just looking up at the ceiling. Even after he had explained how Annabeth and him were dating, they still couldn't believe that they actually were. Plus, they had kissed earlier, so why was it so unbelievable?

"Oh my gods, what's so hard to understand about it?" Percy asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Well, I mean, why would you even keep it a secret?" Chloe asked in return.

Before he could answer, Annabeth rushed into the room, settling next to her boyfriend, "Because our friend said we were too dependent on each other! We took it as a challenge, ok?! Gods!"

Annabeth huffed and snuggled into Percy's side. It had gotten too hard for her to hear him struggle through convincing his friends, so she had decided to step-in. Well, in actuality, she couldn't physically contain herself. But 'decided' sounds more sane.

While Chloe and Jack were fighting the truth, Mike had kept silent. He was stuck inside his head, thinking over everything he had pushed to the back of his mind since Annabeth had come to school for the first time.

Percy and her exchanging "secretive" glances.

Percy's excitement in the days before her arrival.

Annabeth and Percy's conversation in Greek.

It all made sense. The way that they seemed to be able to communicate without even opening their mouths. They were in love with each other the entire time! How had he not realized it sooner?!

Finally bringing himself back to reality, Mike said in a soft voice, "They're telling the truth."

"What? Mike, you can't be buying into this!" Jack exclaimed.

"Think about it! Look at them! Really look at them!" Mike yelled at his friend, pointing at the young couple, "They love each other!"

Jack and Chloe, exasperated, gazed over at Percy and Annabeth, who had been sitting deathly still during Mike's entire outburst. And true enough, when they REALLY looked at the duo, their eyes widened in realization. Everything they had said was true. Percy had been lying to them for so long...

Weren't they best friends?

"Shit!" Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hand over her mouth.

"Oh, so NOW you believe us!" Percy said.

"Face it, Perce, you have no people skills," Annabeth smirked at her boyfriend.

He just rolled his eyes, "So what are we gonna do now?"

Annabeth started to think about it, but before she could come up with something, Jack spoke up, "We'll keep your secret!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows in surprise at that. I mean, it could work, but why would they help them? It was obvious that Leo was right–not that she would ever admit that–and she and Percy should just give up, right? Unless...

"Yes! You all keep our secret, and Percy and I don't have to tell Leo that he was ri–right," she said.

Percy was going to protest, but one look at Annabeth silenced him. She looked so desperate. He couldn't make her admit defeat. It just wasn't in her nature. Plus, it wasn't in HIS nature to hurt Annabeth.

"Ok, whatever. But if we get discovered a second time, I'm not trying to salvage it again," Percy told her.

Annabeth smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips in thanks. Her eyes seemed to almost literally light up at the prospect of a challenge.

Percy and Annabeth spent the next hour explaining their entire relationship to Chloe, Jack, and Mike (minus the godly aspects). It seemed like the trio had a never-ending supply of questions to ask. By the time that Percy had finally found a way to kick them out nicely, Annabeth looked about ready to murder someone.

However, just as they were exiting the apartment, she jumped up, "Don't forget to ignore me at school! Remember, you haven't ever met me!"

Mike mock-saluted her, "Yes, ma'am!"

Then they left. And Percy and Annabeth were alone. Finally.

"I thought they would never leave!" Percy exclaimed, walking back to his girlfriend and putting his arms around her.

"Me, too. And now I'm ready to spend some time with my boyfriend," she agreed.

"Oh? I thought we had some homework to finish?" Percy teased.

Annabeth smiled and leaned in to kiss him, "That can wait."

And they spent the next half-hour making out...

Later, when they were in bed, Percy was stuck awake. He was just staring at the ceiling, unable to escape his thoughts.

Why were they trying so hard to prove that they didn't need each other...when they did?

It was all so confusing. He wanted to make Annabeth happy, but was this really doing that? I mean, he didn't want to assume, but he was pretty sure HE made her happy. Adding fatal flaws into a relationship just makes everything more difficult, that's for sure.

Percy looked over at Annabeth, watching her sleep and playing with her golden locks.  _ She's so beautiful,  _ Percy thought, smiling.

But, of course, something had to ruin the moment.

Annabeth started thrashing around, screaming out at nothing. She was throwing her arms and legs around in a desperate attempt to stop whatever she was seeing. As Percy tried to calm her, he let his guard down and was too distracted to realize that her fist was coming at his face. It was a sloppy punch, but it still stung. It hit him right in the eye, and would surely cause a bruise to form later.

Nonetheless, Percy kept on trying to help her. He was able to straddle her and was trying to hold down her arms. He was forced to use more force than he wanted to, though, because she kept on struggling.

"Percy! No!" Annabeth screamed in agony, tears flowing down her cheeks.

The amount of pain in her voice made tears form in Percy’s eyes, but he still pushed on, "Annabeth, calm down. We got out. We're safe. I'm ok. You're ok. I love you. We got out..."

And he kept muttering in her ear until she eventually opened her eyes, tears still streaming relentlessly.

"Seaweed Brain?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Yeah, Wise Girl?" he asked, finally releasing her.

He moved to where he was holding her, allowing her to let it all out. She told him everything that had happened in the dream. She was in Tartarus, and she was watching Percy turn Akhlys’ own poison against her, but he didn't listen to her this time. It looked so real...and it felt real, too.

Nothing she could say would make him stop. It was horrible.

"It's ok, Wise Girl. It wasn't real. I love you," Percy whispered in her ear.

"I love you so much, Percy. Thank you for stopping," Annabeth said.

And that's the moment that Percy realized how bad this episode was. Usually, they could pull themselves out of it by grasping that it wasn't real, but this time, she couldn't. It was like when they had first gotten out of 'that place.' This one nightmare had probably set them BOTH back a couple steps.

"I will always stop for you," Percy assured her, "Now try to get some more sleep. I'll be here. Always."

"Always," Annabeth agreed, driving off to a finally peaceful sleep.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so who had tears in their eyes right now? I know I do! And I'm sorry for doing this, but you know I couldn't make a Percabeth fanfic without having a PTSD episode, right? I just decided that I needed to get it over with. Plus, it helps move the plot along.
> 
> Also, I'm sorry if this starts to seem like Literallyobsessed's story a little bit here in the next couple chapters. I just liked that part of the plot a lot, and it was super interesting to read, so I added my own twist to it and put it here. 
> 
> Anyway, I worked really hard to make this chapter longer than the last couple. It was hard. For some reason, this story's chapters seem to be a lot longer than the actually are...until I check the word count. 
> 
> Thanks, JJ!
> 
> That's it! Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm sorry for not writing for so long, but I recently had a loss in the family, and I needed a break from writing. I hate 2020 so much. 
> 
> Anyway, I'm back. And I'm determined to write until this chapter is long and amazing. Also, do you guys want me to start naming the chapters with actual titles instead of chapter #s? If so, just let me know and I'll do it! Even for just one person! You also need to tell me how long you want this story to be. That way I can plan on what to write. Honestly, I could end this story on this chapter, so... Comment and leave kudos!
> 
> Happy reading and stay safe, 
> 
> your author
> 
> P.S. I just reread the last chapter, and I totally cringed at that last part. Sorry if you did, too.

When they woke up the next morning, everything went back to normal. Well, as normal as it can get for two teenage demigods. They woke up, they ate breakfast, they walked to school, and they started class. Nobody mentioned last night's episode. Not even Percy's parents, who most definitely heard her screams. They'd learned that it was best to let Percy and Annabeth work things out on their own, in their own way. Anyway, there weren't any mishaps whatsoever, and that was what worried Annabeth. It felt too silent. Like the calm before the storm. And when Annabeth gets a feeling, she's almost always right.

During lunch is when it happened. The ADHD part of her brain was wondering why it was always lunch that had bad things happen during it.

At her table, Annabeth and her friends were just minding their own business, talking about whatever the newest gossip going around the school was, when tragedy struck. Ok, it wasn't a tragedy, but it was definitely shocking. Annabeth's been spending too much time around Percy; her dramatic side was coming out way too often nowadays.

Percy and his friends sat down at their table. Her friends and her all wore similar shocked expressions, unable to form a coherent sentence.

Last time, it was just Percy, and it wasn't as stare-inducing. Now, Percy and all of his close friends, the popular group, were sitting at the "nerd" table.

Of COURSE everyone was shocked.

"Hey, 'Beth," Percy said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

Annabeth was fully prepared to start ranting about how he knows full well to never use nicknames made out of her full name, but then stopped herself. He was just trying to provoke her. Wow, he wants this competition to end more than she thought. Well, the jokes on him cuz' she's not gonna break.

"Hi..." she answered, faking confusion now that she had figured out what was happening.

Her friend was another story, though. They all turned to her with various emotions displayed on their faces; confusion, anger, surprise, even curiosity. The curious one was Addison, of course. The facial expressions varied between personalities.

"Wha-you ju-huh?" Noah stammered, unable to make sense of what was going on around him.

He, like all of Annabeth's friends, had learned about her hatred for nicknames. Well, they thought it was all types of nicknames, but that wasn't completely true. One person was allowed to give her a nickname, and that person just so happened to be sitting across from them.

"What's going on, guys?" Chloe asked, clearly in one the plan to sabotage all of Annabeth's hard work.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at her before answering, "Not much. Just talking about how apparently THE Percy Jackson was caught making out with someone behind the school. You?"

She smirked to herself as she looked over at Percy with raised eyebrows. Percy just can't learn that he has no chance of winning, can he?

By the look of his face, Percy was trying to come up with some excuse as to why that rumor was going around. It obviously wasn't true, but he was too caught up in his shock to realize that.

Percy's friends looked over at their friend, silently asking  _ what do we do now? _ This was NOT part of the plan, but Percy should have known to come with a Plan B when trying to outsmart a daughter of Athena. Ok, maybe not outsmart, but outmaneuver (even that is pretty far fetched, though).

It was quite amusing to a certain grey-eyed girl, really.

"What's wrong, Percy? Cat got your tongue?" Noah asked, not choosing the pass up the opportunity to get some pay-back on the cool kids.

"Shut up, Noah," Annabeth snapped on instinct.

She wasn't able to catch herself before the words had left her mouth. Her other friends were staring at her in shock and Noah looked like he was about to say something he would probably regret later. If anyone had bothered to look over, they would've seen the relief on Percy and his friends' faces. That comment was able to snap Percy out of whatever ADHD stupor he was in, and he was now looking at Annabeth with raised eyebrows and a smirk, almost most to ask,  _ what're going to do now? _

And that's when Noah's anger-filled floodgates burst open, "Unbelievable! Why are you protecting them? They're jerks and you know it! You know what they did to me!"

_ Screw it,  _ Annabeth thought.

"You have no right to say that! You don't even know them! Was it even them who did it to you? Huh?" She yelled back as she stood up, attracting the attention of the entire cafeteria.

Everyone was watching the fight like a tennis match, waiting to see who would lose. Unbeknownst to them, Annabeth never loses.

"No right?! You've barely even TALKED to him! What gives YOU the right to defend them!" Noah screamed back, standing up too and getting in Annabeth's face.

Wow. How oblivious can someone be? If Annabeth is protecting Percy, doesn't that mean they know each other? All of her other friends seemed to come to that conclusion, but apparently Noah was too mad to realize it. Oh, well. Let him get it out. He's probably been holding this in for awhile by the way things have escalated so quickly.

"He's my boyfriend!" Annabeth finally screamed.

The entire cafeteria went silent. So silent that you could hear a pin drop.

Percy didn't seem to know what to do. He just kinda stood there, flabbergasted, like everyone else.

Annabeth was practically radiating pride. She didn't care that she technically lost, all she cared about was Percy. So what if she was wrong ONE TIME. She loved Percy and that was enough for her. Who needs a silly competition when you can have the best boy in the world?

Since he didn't look like he was going to do it, Annabeth took the initiative and walked over to Percy, pulled him down to her, and kissed him. It took Percy a couple seconds to catch on, but when he did, the kiss was one of the most passionate they had ever shared in front of people. The whole world faded away; it was just the two of them.

Yeah, it was one of those kisses.

They only pulled away when people started clapping and wolf-whistling. But even then, Percy still kept an arm around her shoulders while they looked around. Pink tinted both their cheeks in embarrassment, but Percy still had the biggest smile on his face anyone had ever seen. And it wasn't because he had won, it was because he finally had his girlfriend back. Well, ok, maybe a small part of it was because he had just beat Annabeth Chase.

"Wanna get outta here, Chase?" Percy whispered in her ear.

She nodded slightly, and he led her through the crowd that had formed.

Why had a crowd formed? It wasn't some big event! They had just kissed. In front of the whole school. Very passionately. After Annabeth had just screamed that he was her boyfriend. Oh, crap.

They didn't even bother to finish the rest of the school day. Percy just texted Paul to sign them out and then left.

Back in the cafeteria, hundreds of conversations had started up as soon as the couple had left. Percy's friends seemed to try to act like they didn't know anything, but it wasn't working. At least not for everyone. Addison was very perceptive. As soon as Annabeth had made her announcement, everything had clicked. It was so obvious! She had to talk to Annabeth. So she took off after the retreating lovers, trying to figure out if her friend had ever mentioned where she lived.

"Hey, Addison!" Someone called after her when she was in the hallway.

She turned around to find all of Percy's closest friends standing a couple yards away from her. They all had knowing looks on their faces. She figured they already knew about the relationship.

But why would Annabeth tell them when her best friends didn't know yet? Were they even best friends?

"Looking for where she lives?" Mikes asked, referring to Annabeth.

"Yeah, where is it?" Addison said, wondering how they knew, but decided against asking.

The teens shared a look that Addison wasn't able to decipher, but it looked like they were about to share some big secret that would shock anyone into silence. What could be bigger than her best friend hiding an entire relationship from her?

"Percy's," Mike answered.

"'Percy's' what? What do you mean?" Surely he couldn't be saying what she thinks he's saying.

"Percy and Annabeth live together," Chloe cut in, cleanly answering so there was no room for confusion.

It's that serious?! Oh, well.  _ That doesn't matter. I need them to take me to their house right now,  _ she thought.

"Take me there," Addison ordered, not caring that she was ordering around some of the most influential people in the school.

"Sure," Chloe shrugged and started to exit the school, "We need to talk to them, too."

* * *

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this could've been longer, but I thought that I would try and give you guys as many chapters as possible. This one was still a little longer than the last, though. So that's something. 
> 
> You guys like bossy Addison? Cuz' I definitely do. I didn't even plan on making her character develop throughout the story, but it just did. I went with the flow, just like Percy would. 
> 
> Oh, and btw, did you guys notice my little comment on Percy being the perfect boy? Fictional characters have completely ruined my standards for boyfriends. 
> 
> You guys know I have to thank JJ, or nightskywithrainbows, right? Of course you do! But they still deserve WAY MORE than a shoutout, so go read their stories on Ao3! (Their amazing!)
> 
> Anyway, comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and welcome back to a story that takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions! And I have no shame in admitting that. None whatsoever. 
> 
> Anyway, I promise that this isn't the last chapter, no matter how much it may feel like it. I promise. I need to have my reading glasses adjusted, so if I make more mistakes than usual here, please don't be mad. I'll go back over it eventually. It just hurts too much to have them squishing the sides of my head for hours. Yeah. Thanks.
> 
> Please comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author

Percy and Annabeth headed straight home, just like their friends had suspected. They knew it was only a temporary fix, and that they would eventually have to face the music, but they wanted to at least have time to figure out their story's details first. Since it was Friday, they thought they would at least have the weekend to figure everything out, but a demigod's luck wasn’t even good enough to be called luck. So, when their friends showed up at their apartment, they were a little surprised by the timing, but not shocked. At least most of the group already knew about their relationship.

They were just minding their own business, making out on their bed, when they heard a knock on the door. Now some might wonder why they were kissing each other when they had some serious shit going on, but that's just how they are. A simple strategic conversation turns into a make-out session, and a full-on make-out session turns into a heated screaming match. It's all a part of the package of Percabeth.

"Who could that be?" Annabeth pulled back from her boyfriend, with him letting out a sound of frustration.

"I don't care, but whoever they are, they're about to be run through with a VERY pointy sword named Riptide," Percy grumbled, storming out of the room.

Annabeth rolled her eyes at him, but followed anyway. This should be good.

She was able to reach him just as he was unlocking the front door, sword in hand. He looked like he was seriously about to skewer whomever was behind that door.

What they saw on the other side was not what they were expecting. At least not so soon.

"Addison?" Annabeth asked, shocked.

"Hey, Annabeth. Can we come in?" her friend asked.

Annabeth had to literally shake herself out of her stupor before she pushed Percy out of the way for her friends to come in, "Oh, yeah. Welcome."

Percy just watched as each and every one of his close friends followed Addison through his apartment door. He had almost forgotten about their problem at school before this interruption. Annabeth's lips could make him forget anything stuck on his mind.

"So...what're you guys doing here?" Percy asked, waving Riptide around as a pointer out of habit.

Annabeth's eyes widened and she quickly pried the sword out of her boyfriend's hands.  _ Idiot,  _ she thought.

"Why do you have a bat?" Jack asked, eyebrows raised in question at his friend.

"What? I don't have a–oh! Yeah. We weren't expecting anyone. Didn't know what to think," Percy lied very un-smoothly.

Once again, Annabeth found herself mentally calling her boyfriend an idiot.

"You never answered his question," She pointed out, putting Riptide against the wall and trying to change the direction of the conversation.

She's always left to clean up Percy's messes. Just ONCE, Annabeth wants him to not almost reveal the entire existence of the greek gods in one conversation. That's the dream.

"We didn't. But I think you know why we're here," Addison said, crossing her arms.

"Actually, I have no idea why they're here since they already knew about us," Percy pointed to his friends, "But I think I know why you're here."

Addison was ready to give some witty retort, but never got to because Percy's answer was not what she was expecting. Chloe, Mike, and Jack already knew?! Then why did they help her find Percy and Annabeth? Ugh, everything is just so confusing right now.

"Wait, you guys knew already?!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air.

"Yep, but we thought it would be nice to get some payback on Percy and Annabeth for lying to us. So, we brought you to them. Now be angry!" Mike said.

Percy was about to just walk out of the room, but as he was leaving, Annabeth grabbed his arm in a death-lock grip. He did not get to just leave her to explain everything, even though she already did that to him earlier. This one's gonna be bigger, she can feel it.

"Why don't we move to the kitchen table, ok? We'll answer all of your questions there," she offered, already walking out of the room, Percy towing behind.

As she was being led into the Jackson family’s kitchen, Addison had a sudden realization. Percy and Annabeth really DO live together. She knew that Chloe said they were staying together, but it had never really sunk in until now.

"Do you guys want anything?" Percy asked half-heartedly, only because Sally had raised him right.

"We're good," Chloe answered quickly, eager to let the interrogation begin.

"Ok, well if you change your mind, there's cookies on the table," he said.

They all sat down at the table. Nobody spoke. Nobody knew how to start. It was very aggravating for the demigods present.

Finally, Mike broke the tension, "So...I wanted to ask a question before Addison starts ranting."

Addison briefly wondered how one of the most popular guys at the school could talk about her so casually, like they were best friends. It went against every stereotype that she believed about them. She guesses that she should just scrap all of those now that she's learned her best friend is dating THE most popular person at school.

"What?" Annabeth asked, trying to turn her attention to Mike, but there was a very distracting crack in the wood on the table that was practically called out to her.

Unlike Annabeth, Percy wasn’t able to control his ADHD at all, so the crack got the majority of his attention. If he was really needed, Annabeth would slap him.

Back to Mike. "Well, I was feeling all excited cuz' I was able to keep a huge secret, and then you go and out the secret on my first day, so I was just wondering why?"

Annabeth burst out laughing. Like, full-on laughter. It even broke Percy out of whatever trance the crack had put him in, making him aware of what was going on around him again.

Everyone looked at each other with looks of confusion. The mortals were all wondering if Annabeth was hiding some sort of mental illness from them, one that makes her suddenly break out into hysterical laughter. But that was just their imaginations running rampant.

What was really happening was that Annabeth was in need of a good laugh, and the smallest of things could've set her off. This time, it just happened to be Mike asking a perfectly ordinary (sort of) question.

When she was finally able to control herself, Annabeth said, "I'm sorry. I just really needed a good laugh. Anyway, to answer your question simply, I got sick of hiding the best part of my life."

In most people's eyes, that is not simple whatsoever. But whatever.

"Ok, that's fine I guess," Jack said, "Moving the mic over to Addison!"

"Thanks, er, I guess. Now I don't know where to start. Everything is just a jumbled mess of questions," Addison mumbled.

Percy, ever the kindest, encouraged her by saying, "Don't think about it. Just ask and we'll answer."

_ Wow. Can he get any better? _ Addison thought before following his instructions, "Um, how long have you two been together?"

"About a year," Annabeth answered immediately, "But we've known each other since we were twelve.”

That was an easy one.

"Ok, why did you keep it a secret from everyone?"

Percy sighed, "We were told by our friends that we’re too dependent on each other, so we made a game out of proving them wrong. Whoever broke first lost."

"That's...kinda messed up, but whatever. Next, um, do you love each other?"

"Of course," both demigods answered together.

"Well, that kinda takes away every other question I had. I don't know what else to ask," Addison admitted.

Well, that wasn't as bad as Percy and Annabeth thought it would be. Thought Annabeth did take notice of her friend's change in personality. Usually, Addison is the quiet one, but she was very open today. Annabeth guessed the secret coming out somehow brought her out of her shell, too.

"Seriously?! I was hoping for a popcorn-worthy event! Come on, man!" Jack exclaimed.

Percy smirked. His friends always knew how to bring the mood back to joking around. It's comforting that they weren't super mad at him for keeping something this big from them. And this isn't even his biggest secret! (But they'll never learn that one.)

"Well, I guess we should go watch a movie, huh?" he said, jumping up.

_ Seaweed brain, _ Annabeth thought with a loving smile.

* * *

On her way home, Addison was stuck in her own thoughts. Throughout her time spent with Percy and Annabeth today, she had noticed all of the things about them she had never seen before; the way they knew what the other was thinking without any effort, the way they always gravitated towards each other (almost always touching in some way), and the way they were absolutely, without a doubt, the best of friends she had ever seen.

It was almost impossible to not feel happy in their presence. They were so much in love, some might get sick from the proximity. Not Addison though, she was just happy that her friend had found her perfect other. For as long as she had known her, Addison had worried that Annabeth was one of those girls that refused every advance because she thought school was more important than social interaction.

How wrong she was...

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry! This isn't the last chapter, as I said before. I think I'm aiming for 2 more. I have a plan already in place on how to pull it off, too. Sorry if some of the thoughts got a little confusing. I was trying to pull off going into everyones heads, and it was hard to fit it all in. And to transition it all! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> As a reminder, this story is also on Inkitt, Tumblr, FF, and Wattpad. 
> 
> Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! I hope you and your family are staying safe in these trying times, and if not, my thoughts are with you...yeah. Just thought I should put that out there. This is the second to last chapter of this story, so I'm aiming to make it really good. I'm going to try and finish this story quickly because I'm barely started on my other one, and I just started a new handwritten story. Plus I have school and life in general. A lot is going on and I just want check something off the list. 
> 
> Thank you, JJ, my wonderful beta reader. This story would be horrible without you...
> 
> Anyway, comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author

Annabeth was going to kill Percy.

Sure, they were going to have to tell their friends eventually, but the NEXT DAY!? Annabeth was the type of person who planned for everything; who always knew what to say in the moment. But this was something that needed a little more than a couple hours of thought. This conversation was going to hit her pride hard, and considering what her fatal flaw is, she needs some time to prepare. And that's where Percy comes in. He doesn't think about anything, he just acts, and now Annabeth is yelling at him in the living room about how stupid he is ten minutes before their friends were due to arrive.

So, business as usual for them.

"Is there a brain in there? I mean, did you even stop to THINK about how this decision would affect me?" Annabeth shouted, "No, you didn't! Just like you always do!"

Percy just stood there, letting her get it out. When Annabeth got like this, it was best to just tune it out and wait for her to tire herself out.

"Are you even listening to me?! Seaweed brain!"

He sighed, "Yes. I am listening to you. And I know that I made a stupid decision, but our friends are about to be here, so can we please just kiss and make up?"

Annabeth was fuming, but for once Percy had a point. No way was she going to let her friends see her freaking out over her admitting defeat. And to be honest, she wasn't really mad at Percy, she was just stressed, and he was there. So she let it out on him, and now she feels guilty about it.

"Fine. I'm sorry for screaming at you. I'm just stressed," she said hugging him.

Percy pulled back to give her a kiss, "I love you."

"Love you, too, Seaweed brain," Annabeth responded, a smile growing on her face.

That was when a series of knocks came from the front door.

"That's our cue," Percy said, pulling away to answer the door.

He didn't even get to greet his friends before being shoved back, letting in the flood of eager teenagers.

"What is it? Did he propose? OMG he did, didn't he? YES! I have so much planning to do," Piper went right up to Annabeth, grabbing her by the arms.

Annabeth seemed to be too overwhelmed by her friend's excitement that her mind didn't even process what was being said. Percy's did though.

He blushed a deep scarlet before answering for his girlfriend, "No, Pipes. I didn't propose. We wanted to talk about something else, so can you all sit down please?"

They all obliged, turning their questioning gazes onto the two heroes of Olympus.

"Well...we just wanted to let you know that...Percy?" Annabeth struggled.

"Nice. What Wise girl was trying to say was that you were right. We can't live without each other. Happy, Leo?" he said in a rush.

A huge grin spread across the son of Hephaestus' face, "Yes, I am indeed. Jason? My twenty drachmas please?"

The son of Jupiter reluctantly handed over the money, muttering something that sounded like, "You couldn't have held out a little longer, guys?"

The fact that her friends had bet on her need for Percy in her life shocked Annabeth out of her stupor. Now, she was steaming mad all over again.

"You BET on us? You sons of  _ bdelyrós** _ !" she yelled, trying to break free from Percy's hold so she could strangle the boys.

"I told you she would be pissed," Nico sighed.

"Easy, Wise girl. They're not worth it. Even though they DESERVE it," Percy tried to calm Annabeth.

Annabeth was already pretty high strung today, and this just pushed her over the edge. Not many knew that she had quite the sailor's mouth when she got mad. He did, of course. He was usually on the receiving end of the insults.

Annabeth took one deep, relaxing breath before sitting back down.

"If you interrupt me, I'll gut you," She stated as calmly, "Now, Percy's friends found out, and then the entire school found out the next day. We plan on going back to school, so don't even try to persuade us to come back to camp. Any questions? No? Great!"

The way she said it made it clear that she was not expecting any questions.

"Wait, so you aren't getting married?" Piper asked, pouting.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but there was a slight coloring in her cheeks, "No, Pipes. We're too young. We've been over this!"

The daughter of Aphrodite huffed, but didn't push it. She knew it was going to happen soon, just like everyone else did. Well, everyone but the actual couple. If only they would get over the whole 'too young' thing. Love doesn't have an age limit!

"On that disappointing note, anyone wanna order some pizza?" Frank asked, changing the subject about as smoothly as a bull going through a china shop.

* * *

Once Percy and Annabeth had finally pushed their friends out the door, they collapsed back on the couch. It had been a long, tiring couple of hours, and now they finally had some alone time.

"We're home!" Sally called.

Or not.

Sally and Paul walked into the living room, the latter holding a sleeping Estelle in his arms.

"What's going on? You both look dead," Sally commented lightly.

Percy gave a half-hearted chuckle, but nothing more.

"I'm going to go put these away," Sally nodded towards the bags of groceries in her hands.

Percy started. He hadn't even realized that his mom was holding anything when she walked in. He must really be tired if he had missed something so obvious.

Sally left to the kitchen and Paul set Estelle down by some of her toys, and then he sat himself down in an armchair.

He seemed to remember something before saying, "Oh! Are you guys planning on going to that dance on Sunday?"

Percy and Annabeth looked at each other in confusion.

"What dance?" Annabeth voiced both of their thoughts.

"The school is putting on a dance on Sunday night. They're posters all around school. How have both of you not noticed?" Paul said.

"We've been a little distracted," Percy answered, sighing, "But I don't think we're gonna go. Right, Wise girl?"

Annabeth didn't answer, and when Percy looked over at her to see why, she had that look on her face. The one that meant she was considering the odds of a choice. Oh, gods. She was thinking about going to the dance.

He had thought that they weren't school dance people. I mean, there were so many awful endings to them going. Like a monster attack! Yeah. Like that.

In reality, he just didn't like dances. Especially dance with mortals that had just found out that the most popular guy at school was dating a 'nerd.' It wasn't on his to-do list, that's for sure.

"Annabeth? You aren't seriously considering this, right?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.

If she wanted to go, they were going. He had no doubt about it. Everything that Annabeth wanted, Percy gave her. He was a sucker for her.

"Well, it would kinda be like ripping off the bandaid, right? And it would be shorter than a day of school. This way, we could deal with the mortal questions earlier. And who knows? It might end up being fun," Annabeth answered.

Percy heaved a great sigh and tipped his head back onto the couch.

They were going to a school dance.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Bdelyrós: This word means either a villain or a b*****
> 
> Sorry if that was too much dialogue, but I just needed to move the story along to the point it needed to end on. If you haven't guessed what the next chapter will be, then you obviously didn't read this chapter. 
> 
> Anyway, what do you think'll happen at the dance? Did you like how whipped I made Percy? Voice your thoughts!
> 
> Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I just realized that I'm way over 1M readers if I add all of the websites I have this story on together. And I'm in shock. You guys are so great, and I love the support I always get. It's really reassuring to have people say that they like my story because, to be honest, I was really nervous about posting this story. And now that we're on the last chapter, it's a little surreal to have so much recognition. But enough of the sappy stuff. I can do that after the actual chapter. So be ready for the spillage of my heart. Oh and the pic at the top does not mean anything, just in case anyone is hyperventilating right now. 
> 
> Also, I just got a new keyboard for my monitor and I'm not quite used to it yet, so if I make a mistake, please don't point it out. I appreciate it. That's also why this chapter took longer than usual to finish BTW.
> 
> Oh and if you still reading these, good for you! Not like you wanted to know or anything, but I'm eating a whole lot of Sour Punches right now. It's extremely unhealthy, but do I care in the slightest? No. Not at all.
> 
> Comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> – your author
> 
> P.S. go to FF and answer my poll there. My name is Ocean.breezzq cuz for some reason they don't allow underscores on FF.

How did he end up in this position? Honestly, Percy could not for the life of him figure out how he got himself into this one.

He is currently standing in front of a full-length mirror, with his mother trying to figure out which tie he should wear. They had narrowed it down to two: a deep blue or a thin black one. He didn't see how it mattered, but apparently it does because his mom had been fussing over it for the past ten minutes. He was about ready to just not wear one. It was already bad enough to have to wear a dress shirt and pants (he had adamantly refused to wear anything but his converse).

But of course he was standing around and taking it because it was what Annabeth wanted, and what Annabeth wants, she usually gets.

"Mom! Just choose already! At this rate, we're gonna miss the dance altogether!" he exclaimed.

Sally sighed, "Oh, Percy. I can guarantee that you're going to be a little bit late. Annabeth still has a lot to do before you kids can leave!

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Clearly, his mom did NOT know Annabeth. She's the farthest thing from a girly-girl, only Clarisse could beat her. There's no way that she's fussing about getting ready as much as his mom is. If anything, she's already done and is just sitting in their room watching Youtube. Yeah, that's what she's doing...

That was NOT what she was doing.

In fact, Sally wasn't far off. Annabeth was on a FaceTime call with Piper, Thalia, and Hazel trying to figure out which lipgloss she should wear. She already had her hair and dress done. Her hair was styled in just a simple French braid, and her dress was nothing special. She was sure it cost a lot, but Sally hadn't let her see the price tag.

As soon as her and Percy had agreed to going to the dance, Sally had dragged to the mall to find a dress. She seemed so excited, so Annabeth had just let her shove dress after dress onto her until they found "the perfect match." Whatever that meant.

Anyway, Annabeth had only called her friends because she wanted to get their opinion on how she looked. However, she had ended up getting into an argument about when the appropriate time for makeup was. In her opinion, it wasn't required for school dances. Piper and Thalia thought differently. Hazel didn't want to voice her opinion because she was still getting used to common modern practices.

And that's how she ended up here, fretting over what lipgloss she should use. Sally had let her borrow her makeup bag because Annabeth's consisted of a single tube of mascara and an unused clear lip gloss.

Piper thought that she should use the pink lip gloss that Sally gave her, but Annabeth didn't want to be too flashy, so she wanted the clear one.

"You NEED to use the pink one, Annabeth!" Piper said.

"You already forced me into putting on mascara and blush, so I don't think you have the right to make me use the pink one," Annabeth stated factually.

"Oh my gods, 'Beth! Can't you just use the pink and get it over with? This conversation is exhausting," Thalia sighed.

Annabeth resisted the urge to stomp her foot like a child and responded with, "No! I can't! It's my body, so my decision!"

Piper was almost literally pulling her own hair out, but she told Annabeth in a deadly calm voice to "Put on the dam pink lip gloss before I charmspeak you into doing it."

Figuring it was an endless cycle, Annabeth just sighed and applied the pink lipgloss. When she finished, she stood back from the mirror, and gave herself a once-over. She would never admit it, but the pink kinda looked good.

"Happy?" she asked Piper.

"Extremely," was the deadpan reply.

"Ok, guys. I've gotta go. Talk to you later," Annabeth said, moving to sign-off.

Before she could, Thalia screeched, "Don't forget to tell me what Percy's reaction is! I want details!"

"Yeah, sure, Thals," she said and finally ended the call.

That was exhausting. And she still had a long night ahead of her. Great. Why did she want to do this again?

Back with Percy, his mom had chosen the deep blue tie. She said it brought out his eyes, or something like that. He honestly started tuning out what she was saying after she mentioned hair gel.

They had thirty minutes until the dance started, so he wasn't exactly joyous. In his ADHD brain, he was wondering if there was some way that he could skip the dance without being in trouble. Probably not.

And that's when he saw her.

She looked more than beautiful in her grey and gold dress and silver heels. Percy was pretty sure that his mouth was hanging open, but he physically could not close it. Sure, he'd seen Annabeth a little dressed up before, but never like this. For one thing, she'd never worn heels before.

He was speechless.

"You're drooling, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth stated, walking up to him.

That shocked him out of his reverie, "Huh? Oh! You look amazing, Wise Girl."

Annabeth laughed. It sounded so carefree, but on the inside, she was a nervous wreck. Just as she was about to walk out to meet Percy, butterflies swarmed her stomach. There were so many ways this could go wrong, and she hadn't even thought past seeing Percy yet!

"Thanks, Perce," she said, a little tersely.

Percy picked up on her mood, "Relax, 'Beth. Everything'll be fine. This was your plan, remember?"

"Yeah, you're right. Athena always has a plan. We're going to be fine," thought she sounded like she was trying to convince herself more than anyone else.

They both turned to leave, but was abruptly stopped by a yell of protest from Sally, "Just where do you two think you're going? We still have to do pictures!"

Percy groaned, and Annabeth looked like she was trying to suppress one. Sally is great and loving, and kind, but she could be really embarrassing sometimes (especially when it came to Percy).

"Really, Mom?" Percy asked, turning back around to face his mother.

Sally sighed, 'Teenagers', she thought.

"Yes, really. This is one of the few times you get to act like a normal teenager, and I want to capture the moment ," she responded, "Plus, this'll be useful when you get married!"

Both Percy and Annabeth blushed bright red. Leave it to Sally Jackson to make a perfectly casual dance into a conversation about marriage.

Even so, they stood through the seemingly endless amount of photos. Once they were finished, Percy was practically dragging Annabeth away from his mother. The faster they got out of there, the least likely they would be ambushed for pictures again.

In the car, Paul's Prius, they were discussing their plan for the night.

"Ok, so what's the game plan?" Percy asked Annabeth, keeping his eyes on the road. **(safety first kids!)**

Annabeth sighed at her boyfriend's immaturity, but answered nonetheless, "We act like everything is normal. Well, our usual normal. We show up together, and stay together. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so," he answered.

"Good, because I made it foolproof for your sake, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth teased, taking one of Percy's hands in hers.

Percy grinned that dopey grin that always made her heart melt, and then her mind clouded over, as per usual. How can he have this effect on me?, Annabeth wondered as she struggled to come back to herself.

Unbeknownst to her, Percy knew exactly what he was doing. It was all part of his charm, as Leo so tactfully put it once. Slowly, Percy was coming to realize what little action he could do to break through that rough shell that surrounded Annabeth. Not many people could claim to have that ability, so he was grateful he was one of the chosen few. Then again, they had been best friends for almost six years. He had some experience to put it lightly.

Anyway, they were almost at school. Time seemed to slow down as they pulled into Goode High's parking lot. Every step towards the gym–which was where the dance was being held–seemed to last an hour. The anticipation was rising in both of the demigods.

Percy and Annabeth both looked over at each other for comfort at the exact same time, as if their thoughts were one and the same. They didn't even have to speak for them to understand what was going through the other's head. They were both nervous beyond belief.

As they approached the double doors with colorful lights pouring out from under it, Percy squeezed Annabeth's hand, glancing at her and asking, "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," she muttered, reaching to open the doors.

Annabeth wasn't sure what she was expecting...maybe a movie moment where the music stops and everyone moves to stare at them? Or for everyone to start bombarding them with questions as soon as they stepped through the door? Whatever its as, she was sure it couldn't have been what happened.

Nobody noticed them.

The dance just continued as if nothing had happened. Maybe one person here or there would do a double-take at seeing Percy Jackson with his arm wrapped securely around Annabeth Chase's waist, but nothing more than that.

It was all very disconcerting. Or maybe the proper word would be anticlimactic? Yeah, that sounded better in Annabeth's head...

Oh! There she goes again, letting her control slip from her ADHD brain! Get a grip, Annabeth!, she practically screamed in her head.

She hadn't even realized that Percy was pulling her by the hand somewhere until they had already got there. He had spotted their friends talking to each other at one of the tables. That brought another question to mind: When did that happen?

"Hey, guys!" Percy greeted, high-fiving one of his friends (Annabeth was pretty sure it was the one named Jack), "What's up?"

All of their friends gave Percy incredulous looks. Percy was just trying to act normal, like Annabeth said, but apparently they hadn't gotten the memo.

"What's up? What's up?! You too are dating, and you're just acting like it's no big deal!" Nora exclaimed.

Oh, that's right. Most of Annabeth's friends hadn't been briefed completely. They must still be stuck in the shock of the reveal. Annabeth wasn't sure why they were making such a big out of it. It wasn't like they had announced they were getting married, or anything. They were just dating. What's so surprising about that?

And Annabeth asked exactly that, in her best accusatory tone.

Nora looked a little shocked before stuttering out a response, "Well-I mean-um...he's him and you're you!"

Not the best answer, Nora, Percy thought before grabbing Annabeth before she decided to gut her friend. He made it look like he had just casually given her a hug, but if you looked closely you could see how Annabeth's nails were digging into his wrists.

"Easy there, 'Beth. She didn't know what she was saying," Percy whispered in his murderous girlfriend's ear.

With one deep breath, Annabeth relaxed her rigid posture, finally letting it go.

"I apologize for keeping something as big as a relationship from you. I hope you can forgive me," she forced out in a robotic voice, clearly rehearsed beforehand.

Percy smirked, but didn't comment on it. He just went over to talk to his friends while Annabeth caught her group up on everything.

The rest of the dance went pretty smoothly. There was SOME dancing, but not much. Annabeth and Percy may have improved on their dancing skills slightly since Westover Hall, but it was still a little awkward. Even after almost 2 years of dating...

Just as they were about to retire for the night, the casual mood changed. Well, more like the entire gym's atmosphere darkened.

Kelsey Evans was blocking Percy and Annabeth's path.

Annabeth outwardly groaned when Kelsey started to advance toward them. Just as things were seeming like they would work out fine, the devil incarnate had to show up.

"Hey, Percy!" Kelsey chirped with her too-high voice.

"Hi, Kelsey. We were just on our way out, so can you move please? Or is there something you wanted to say first?" Percy asked, strangely diplomatic.

"Well, you see. I've been hearing about some CRAZY rumor going around that says that YOU are dating HER," she answered, saying 'her' with an expression of disgust.

Annabeth internally seethed. She was having to dig her nails into her palms just to keep herself at bay. She was so close to snapping, it's a wonder Kelsey was still breathing.

"It isn't a rumor. We are dating, and have been for almost two years. Can you move out of our way now?" Annabeth said, forcing herself to not call Kelsey some nasty words in Greek.

Kelsey faced Annabeth, her flirty look changing into a pitiful glare, "No. You don't deserve him! He belongs to me!"

Even Percy was having a hard time not punching the girl, and he's been taught not to hurt women that can't defend themselves. Well, that last part was added after he had first sparred with Annabeth.

"First of all, back off. Second of all, Percy isn't an object, he's a person. More specifically, he's my person, so you can go away now before I do something I can guarantee I won't regret," Annabeth walked up close to Kelsey, voice deadly calm.

Of course Annabeth was aware of the crowd around them forming, but that wasn't going to stop her. After 'that place' nothing could scare her up here, especially not a weak mortal girl.

Before Kelsey could respond, Annabeth shoved her out of the way and tugged Percy through the door.

Nobody spoke for a long time, but eventually Percy got up the courage to say something, "That was BA."

Annabeth smirked but didn't say anything. She was still coming down from her adrenaline/anger high, and she was afraid that what came out of her mouth would start a fight, even if it was with Percy.

Then Percy couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just shut up. At least, he did until they were changing out of their formal clothes into their pajamas. Annabeth was in their room, and Percy was in the bathroom.

"Are you done?" he asked.

"Yeah, come in," Annabeth responded.

Percy then walked in, threw his clothes somewhere near his overflowing hamper, and plopped down on the bed next to Annabeth. She was sitting up in bed reading some architecture book that he could never understand.

"Hi," he said, turning onto his side and looking up at her.

"Hello, Seaweed Brain," she said, not even glancing up from the words.

Percy sighed, So it's gonna be one of THOSE conversations, huh?

"You know I love you, right?" he asked, smirking his troublemaker smirk.

This tactic usually works the best when he's stuck in these situations.

A small smile played on Annabeth's lips, but she still refused to look up. However, she did respond with, "Yes, and I love you, too."

Percy pouted, stumped. What is so exciting about architecture? The only thing he likes about it is the way Annabeth's eyes light up as she rants about some random building he's never heard of before. That's the only reason he puts up with it. Or it's the only reason he'll admit to, anyway.

Just then, an idea popped into his head. And when ideas pop into Percy's head, everyone within a five-mile radius better clear out cuz' they can be destructive. However, this one was not that bad.

He gave Annabeth a light peck on her cheek, then slowly moved down to her jaw, then her earlobe, and then her neck. He could tell that it was starting to get to her because she hadn't turned the page for a while.

"Percy...," she warned.

He just smiled against her neck. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but relented. She set her book on the bedside table, and turned over to face Percy, giving him a deep, passionate kiss.

She pulled away for a second, "You're such a Seaweed Brain, you know that?"

She only saw a glimpse of his dopey smile before she went back to kissing the love of her life, stress nonexistent in her mind.

* * *

**Omg omg omg! It's over! I don't even know what to say! I just want to thank all of you guys, my wonderfully supportive readings, especially the ones who've been here since the beginning. You guys are amazing. I don't even know if I would've been able to make this story without the encouragement from you. So thanks.**

**Now, I think that's all the sappy stuff.** **I'm also going to shamelessly promote my original series. Go check out "Secret Powers" and "Frozen Secrets"! They are the first two books in my three story series.**

**If you want to know this is** **Annabeth's dress and shoes from the dance:**

**Now for the good stuff. Somebody mentioned that they would be interested in a Percabeth proposal, so I'm going to give it to you. Here's a little BONUS SCENE set in their future, but I'm not giving it a specific date, so use your imaginations and decide for yourself. Hope you like it!**

* * *

Percy and Annabeth were visiting Camp Half-blood, and they were enjoying a nighttime walk along the beach. Annabeth was remembering all of the wonderful memories she had at this beach. Her underwater kiss with Percy, birthdays, all of her dates with Percy. Nothing but happiness came with being at the beach when you love a son of Poseidon.

Percy was in a completely different headspace. His mind was full of nervousness and worry. He was so distracted that he didn't even realize when Annabeth stopped and turned to look out at the water. When he bumped into her, she just gave him a weird look and went back to her previous position.

His hand was distractedly fidgeting with the small, velvet box in his pocket. It felt like it weighed more than the sky, and he should know! What if she says no? What if I mess up? What if the ring doesn't fit? Oh, gods, she's going to say no!

Those were the thoughts swirling around in his brain, making it a whirlpool of stress. He knows that Annabeth loves him, and that he loves her, but she could still say no!

"Seaweed Brain? Earth to Seaweed Brain! Percy?" Annabeth's concerned expression brought him back to reality.

"Huh? Oh, fine. Just-I'm fine!" he said quickly.

She gave him an unimpressed look, but didn't push it. Truthfully, Annabeth had noticed his odd behavior recently, but she still hadn't figured out what was bothering him. But, she knew that he would tell her eventually, so she was REALLY trying not to figure it out beforehand. The last time he'd been this nervous, he was asking her to move in with her!

Ten minutes passed before Percy worked up the courage to do it. His reasoning was that he just had to get it over with. Annabeth's told him she loves him so many times, why would she say no? There was nothing to worry about! Nothing!

"Hey, Wise Girl?" he asked, turning to face her fully.

"Hmm?" she hummed.

He was about to just ask the question, but his stupid Seaweed Brain got there first, "Wanna go for a swim?"

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows, "Umm...it's 7:30 PM and I'm not wearing a bathing suit. What about this scenario makes you think that we should go swimming?"

Percy decided that he might as well work with what he's got so he went with the first backup plan that came to mind: the best underwater kiss of all time. Ok, not the ACTUAL one, but he could make another air bubble. It's not like he hadn't done it before.

"I'll keep it warm and dry, I promise. Come on! It'll be fun!" he started pulling her towards the water, himself already ankle-deep.

Annabeth started to protest, but he had already gotten her in enough for him to be able to pull her in with his powers. And just as promised, she was still completely dry. She could feel the water on her skin, but it wasn't wet. She had long-since gotten used to the feeling, after so many years of dating Percy, but it still shocked her for the first couple of seconds.

"Fine," she said, and Percy pulled them both all the way under, quickly forming a bubble of air around them.

"I love you," slipped out of his mouth.

It wasn't like it was a big deal, but the way he said it, with so much love, froze Annabeth. What is he planning?, she thought.

An idea began to form in her head, but she pushed it away instantly. Better not to get her hopes up. That way there's no chance of disappointment.

"I love you, too, Seaweed Brain," she said, trying to slip back into her casual tone of voice.

They sat in a silence for about a minute, just watching the scenery around them, before Percy finally ACTUALLY worked up the courage to do it.

"I've been thinking..." he started.

"Uh-oh," Annabeth teased with a smile.

"About us. And our future," Percy said.

Annabeth instantly sobered. He sounded serious, and a serious Percy was a SERIOUS Percy. There was no in-between.

"Yeah?"

Percy took a deep breath, "Yeah. And I know we're a little young, but we've been together for so long, and I just think that it's time. And you've always wanted something permanent, and I want to be that for you. I want us to be that for you. So, Annabeth Chase...will you make me the happiest demigod in the world and marry me?"

It might not seem like much, but to Annabeth, it meant the world. This was exactly what she had been dreaming of for her entire life. She was so full of emotions that she could barely speak, but she was able to get one word out...

"Yes."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, that's it! I'm officially done with this fanfic! I feel like I could've gone on in the bonus scene, but I think that you guys should get to come up with your own version of their happily-ever-after.
> 
> And you guys know I need to give special recognition to my amazing beta reader! JJ, you took me on when I refused to edit my own work, and you made everything WAY better! You should ALL go check out nightskywithrainbows. They write, beta, AND are a student! So kudos to you, JJ! You're the best!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this, and please comment and leave kudos! Stay safe and happy reading!
> 
> \- your author


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